9:15am. I woke up. The reason this is significant is because I NEVER sleep past 9. So when this happens it means one of two things…either I’m really, really tired…or I’m sick. Once I woke up, I got thinking about it and I don’t think I’m sick…so I must have been pretty tired after coming off 2 weeks of non-stop work. I’ve been quite busy here lately, flying to different cities, and I haven’t had a moment to spend with my family.

Which is exactly what I wanted to do…except Christopher had a football camp at 9am with a group of his buddies and Stephanie and her friends had all gotten up to take the boys and were long gone by the time I woke up. So I got out of bed, poured myself a cup of java and sat out on the back porch. The birds were chirping, the bugs were buzzing and Ava was still sleeping. It was so peaceful and relaxing. I remember thinking this past winter that I had to do this more often, considering how hectic my schedule is. I need to enjoy our home more. It only makes sense that I stop and smell the flowers every now and then, especially since I paid to have them put in!

Eventually Ava woke up. In typical Ava fashion, she wanted nothing to do with breakfast. A half hour after she bounced out of bed, my wife returned with one of Ava’s best friends and I could hear the squeals of delight from the kitchen. It was gonna be an exciting afternoon! I had some errands to run and had to be at work at 1pm, but just to be home and chatting with Stephanie and listening to the girls playing was making my mood more & more upbeat.

Stephanie had to pick Christopher up at noon and return Kate (Ava’s friend) back to her father, so off they went around 11am, leaving me in an empty house. I showered and got ready for my day. I had to run to Sears to get a new blade for my lawnmower (grass ain’t gonna cut itself) and was all set to go to work when I got the call…no work today. Someone else had been hired. A little confused, I decided to take this as a sign…I was MEANT to stay home today! So I took it without complaining! I mean…I am working the entire month of June and have very few days off, might as well enjoy this one which featured beautiful weather and nothing on my calendar!

I met Steph & the kids at Frisch’s for lunch. Christopher had fun at the camp but came home with a big shiner under his left eye! Apparently some kid had fallen on him during drills and popped him a good one. He poked at it throughout the lunch saying how funny it felt and telling stories about how it happened. Our good friend Robert and his kids joined us and the kids were all well-behaved. Then the phone rang and my wife got the call from her mom…she was sick. Very sick. So sick that she asked Stephanie to take her to the doctor. So Steph threw down the rest of her lunch and was off and running. As she was leaving, she informed me that Christopher had a play date at another friends’ house. I could drop him off at 1:30.

So my fun-filled “nothing to do” day with my family narrowed itself down to me and Ava. So what’s a daddy to do with his 5-year old (soon to be 6-year old) daughter? That’s a no brainer…we went shopping! And imagine my surprise when we got to the mall and Ava leads me straight to a clothing store that features Justin Beiber t-shirts. And she wants one. Now…I have HEARD of Justin Beiber, but I don’t know much about him but I can tell you this…he seems to be the new “IT” kid for the younger girls these days. But 5 (going on 6) year olds?

*sigh*

So I bought her the shirt. But then she had MORE shopping to do! So we got a few more tops and a sundress and some flip flops and then I got a pair of pants and before you knew it…we had a bunch of bags in our hands and I had to drag her out of the mall! Little did I know my daughter had turned into such a fashionista! LOL

After all that shopping, there is only one thing to do to get that “I’ve been shopping at the mall and I’m wiped out” feeling out of your bones…ya gotta go to DQ! So that’s where we ended up. Ava got a swirl cone and I got a vanilla dipped in sprinkles cone (LOVE sprinkles!). We talked about clothes and Justin Beiber and how all her friends think he’s so cute and other things that I don’t recall. All I remember thinking is my daughter thinks some other kid that ISN’T her brother is cool and then my head started racing and that’s all I remember. But somewhere during the conversation I ended up on ITunes (stupid IPhone) and downloading a couple of Beiber’s songs. They’re not bad…decent pop songs and I can see why he’s popular with the girls. He’s a good lookin’ kid in a Mickey Mouse way. I’m not sure, but I imagine he’s from the Mouse House camp of singers that are so popular right now (Miley Cyrus, that blonde girl whose name I don’t recall, etc…).

Aaaanyway, we went and grabbed Christopher’s baseball gear (he had practice at 5:00) and headed over to his friends’ house. Christopher’s buddy Mason has a sister (Megan) and guess what she was wearing? The exact same Justin Beiber shirt. And then it clicked…this was all a setup. Ava wanted to wear what her friends are wearing! She actually doesn’t know anything about Justin Beiber! She just wanted to fit in! HALLELUJAH!!! My little girl isn’t growing up so fast after all!

But wait.

What THIS means is that she purposely went to the store to buy what her friends were wearing because that is the popular thing right now?

OH NO! IT HAS BEGUN!!!!

And I’m pretty sure I blacked out because I don’t remember anything after that.